THE OMAHA GUIDE Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant St. umaha, Nebraska "Phone V'Kbmcr 15i7 Rnteieu as i econd Glass Master Mulct 1*>, 19—7, at the post Oilue at l maha, Neur., under Act of Oor.g"Csa of Inarch 2, 1879. TERM:. OP uliBSOKiPTi. N 2.tl0 1 ER YEAR | live prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of God and ll»“ Brotherhood of Man mut prevail. | These are the only principles whil will stand , the acid liO of rood. _ Ait Ne.vs Copy of Chrurches and asd Organi zations niu-t l*> in cur office not later than fi;00 p m. Mond; y fur curren issue. All Adver tising Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wednesday noon, preceding date of issue, to insure publication. ~ editorials Is It Fair To All Parties? (Reprint from World-llerald of 5—23—38) With pontifical dignity Senator Norris finds (the “Myers deal" for the purchase of private utilities by the Nebraska “little TV A” to he “fair to all parties interested." Whether prieeca to be paid are fair awl reasonable the senator admits he doesh’tkliw. However, he has com pete fai h in J. I>. Ross of Seattle, the price fixer, so none need he concerned about that. In the old days that are fleeting so rapidly away there would have been some question about that. Should the people of the Omaha region, for erample, have no voice in fixing the price which the plant serving them is to be sold? Should they require to repose “complete confidence" in a Pacific coast appraiser, sim ply because Senator Norris or McCook does? Has the good old doctrine of locgl self gov ernment, been completely replaced by the rule of distant commissars? And as Andy Gump used to say, “another thing." Should not the people of the Omaha region bo entiled to vote not only on the price but on the sale of their plant? Maybe they don’t want i,t sold up the river to Columbus, to he owned and managed hy a county or district a hundred mih® away, with oJly a remote ir.tei *st, however neighborly, in Omaha,’s condition. and problems. Maybe, before voting their con sent'., they would like to provide that the Oma ha community be allowed some right ar.d inter est in the ownership and management of its own local nlant. Would there be anything unreasonable, ony thing unfair, about, that? On tlV' other hand, is H really “fair to all parties interested" to deny this right to the many communities that will be similarly af fested ? Until recently there could huve been no question about that. Even the extremest re actionary aiul the extremest radical would not have ventured to dispute the elementary dem ocratic right of loco! self-government. Neither ono would have disputed the doctrine that gov ernment and taxation without representation is tyranny. It seems to us that Nebraska’s public power and irrigation districts should he thinking a bout that. There is a right way to do big things, and a wrong way. The right way can insure suoccess, the wrong way preciptate dis aster. And in this instance the right way seems dear. It is not to concede Nebraska rulership to Mr. Ross of Seattle and Mr. MSW« of New York, however virtuius and wise they may be considered. It is not eveni to permit a few counties in Nnhra.ska to assume sovereignty, no far as electric service is eirvterned, over all £he other counties, with or without their con sent. It is to let the people rule. And his re quires the Consent of the people directly con cerned and affected. A way should be found, the districts them selves shiuld seek it, out of regard for the ultimate good of their huge undertaking, to put that rule into operation!. Especially when it is borne in mind that an addit iontal debt of upward of a hundred mil lion dollars is to Be incurred, which the people of Nebraska must pay, it is unwise to ignore the first principle of popular government. Reducing The Dam (Reprint (from World-RpraJd 5—25—«'t8> One of the biggest dams gilding back the tide of recovery, all agree, is the restraint up on expansion of private electric utilities (Blueprints are drawn, specifications are ready, the necessary dollars are almost with in reach for a huge utility building program involving the purchase of great quantities of materials and the employment of large num bers if men. This engine of recovery awaits one condition: the satisfactory definition of the govomntont’s utility policy in such a way investment in utilities will be resumed. The senate approprations committee has taken a long step tsward meeting that condition by attending the recovery bill to provide that no new PWA funds shall be granted for new pub lic power plants which will compete with ex isting utiities under pubic regulation. That is the only policy consistent with the administration’s professed desire to reach a, peace with the utilities. It is all very well for TVA to seek a truce the utilities in its area; all very well for SEC and the major holding companies to work peacefully toward n fair application of the holding company act. But the utility problem as p. whole can never be settled until private capital knows just whn* can be expected if it invests in private utilities. The dollars nec essary’ for expansion of plant won’t be forth coming so long b,h the government stands ready t finance new power plants that would directly compete with those that wish to ex pand. And a government which is seeking peace cannot consistently maintain such direct competition. The senate committee’s amendment can be adopted without drastically altering the ad min istrgtion’s power program as already un dertaker* Whatever the rights and wrongs of exl'stmg public proiects, they have been launched, and they will be worked out some how. But by calling a hal,t to further power financing, by defining the imits to present public power activity, the senate can contri bute materially to the cause of recovery, Amd recovery, after all, is the purpose of tho bill. Moral of Government at Stake The investigation of the Tenm . Valley Authority is at last under way. In the open ing sessions, n number of ex'dingly grave charges affecting directors, policies and activ ities of the Authority were made. In the course of the n vestige,‘ion, which will take a substantial length of time to complete, all parties involved w'Hl be heard, cil will bo given every opportunity *o present their side. The important thing is to make this investi gation then ugh and u p .riialt Charges and co I'erchprges must be weighed, not in the 1 gir, of pol'ti'x or of partisan considerations, but in the light of truth. Sothing relevant must, be kept hidden. No one must be white washed. '1 he senators and representatives on the in vestigating board are charged with a grave responsibility. Few investigations in our con gressional history have been as impor.'arvr. Far more is involved in this question than whether morev was wasted or spent wisely, or whether the TVA has been administered ef ficiently or inefficiently. The morals of gov ernment are inextricably involved in the TVA. And P.hi nv lved is a great question of gov ernmental pol’cy that cannot help but affeejt every taxpayer, every worker, every investor, and every pr'vnte enterprise in this country. Millions of ’hinking citizens will be watch ing the TVA investigation. They wn.nt the truth -plain and unprejudiced. Independent Merchants We hear a great deal about the menace of chn.in stores to independent merchants. Yet, in the view rf most authorities, ‘he real men aces to the independents are two vry different things— the consumer cooperative ami the sup er market. And oddly enough, both of these are being promoted hy political activities de signed to destroy the cha.ins. Under the consumer cooperative system, "profit” is eliminated. Goods are sold to, I members at “cost." The consumer cooperat ive movement has so far made but small pro gress in this country—because of the high standards of “low profit” service offered the eonsuer by existing merchandising systems. If punitive laws destroy legitimate compet ition, and thus artifieally force up prices, it is obvious that the appeal of consumer cooper atives will be immeasurably enhanced to a public struggling with the problem of how to make both ends meet. And once the consum er cooperative is forced on, the pubic, the day of the independent mer | it will be really en trrin" Its twilight. A similar situation exists in the case of the super-market. When l",ws make the profit able operation of chaitn impossible, bv levy ing excessive taxes based upon the number of outlets, management naturally turns to the super-m'vket, a consolidation of mart' small stores. This type of market makes for even greater sales economy and lower prices. Th consumer buys where he gets the best service, the widest offering of goods, and the best vaue for his money. Under the free com petitive system, both chains and independents have mn.de consistent progress. Destroy this kind of competition.—and the stage will be set for innovations in merchandising that may make survival of the small merchant impos sible. No Place Here for Terrorism The federal government owes it to the peo ple of the Uhited States to make a sweping pon-pcditical investigation of conditions in Jersey €i,ty. According to reports printed in some of the country’s most reputable newspapers ai d mag azines, a virtual fascist dictatorship has been established there. Iarbor leaders hj>,ve been infused permits to speak. Norman Thomas, the socialist leader, has been forcibly expelled across the New York line. Two congressmen whe plvned to speak there in protest against violations of civil liberties wer* advised that if they appeared, bloodshed seemed certain, lastly, it is reported that an ominous ar.tti Femitic movement, p.lmosf Hitlerian in its bru tal, terroristic methods, has started. Irrespective of yt ur political or social princ iples, there is no room for that sort of thing in a free country. Freedom of spec h must t» niniritained for those with whom you agree lv well as disagree. It is high time that the Administration took decisive action in a situ ation that menaces the basic principles upon whuh the Republic was founded. Wall St. and The Hot Dog Stand Without maximum production and a broad interchange of goods—trade—there can be no such thing as prosperity. That is a generally recognized truth What is not generally recognized is ,the close and vital connection between our great financial centers and the tiniest hot dog stand. Trade is vital to the welfare of both. And while Wall Street would undoubfedy be able to continue in business in the absence of a single hot dog stand, the operator of the hot dog stand would ultimately be in grave dan ger of going out of business, if Wall Street or its counterpart ceased to function! If you don’t believe this, hark back to the days after 1929 The public must come to realize just how vital a spoke the organized stock markets are is, in the wheel of trade and commerce. Smooth fuujnctioning, efficient security markets are | essential. It is on their floors that the buyers a.nd sellers of securities in a vast array of pri vate industrial enterprises must meet to trade their “wares.” And don’t for a moment believe that these wares are not just as real and tan gible as a pound of potatoes. They are the life blood of commerce. They are the principal ass ets behind your insurance policy. They have, indirect^, made it possible *for you to enjoy cheaply such modem luxuries as the automo bile, the telephone, electricity in its manifold usages, the movies, etc. You may never heard of the “floor trader,” “the specialist,” the “$2 broker,” and the “odd lot dealer.” Yon may hear *rf them in the fu ture, but they all contribute thoir Hat, not only to the stability and liquidity of the sto reflected in materially reduced accident tolls in the future. The child w’hq is taught proper' safety procedure by a qurvfied instructor' be comes a safe-living adult. -- ©■—. Economic Highlights During Jfay, business stood at 76 on the Federal Reserve Board’s index of activity. In 1937 it averaged 1101 That means it has declined about one-third, which is a terrific drop for so short a period of time. It also means that the governments revenue estimates have been, thrown clear out of kilter. It is said tha.t. :he new tax bill is a $6 300 000,000 revenue measure, Budget Director Bell’ un.'er questioning by SeJator Bailey, has stated that this estimate was based on the December outlook. Business was well down then, but nowhere u ar as far down as it is now, aid t o outlook for the future was materially to te. . The consequence is. according to inform ed opinion, that the $5,300,000,000 must he si d by at least $6,000,000 aid probably a good deal more to get a true pictu'e of what • --a an re is likely to produce. Result: declining revenues, plus the pump-primming endeavor, would seem to make inevitable a greater imvease in the national debt than was anticipated. Apparently *he only way to pre \ nMthis wculd be *o levy new or higher taxes but their is no sentiment, in a congress facing }' yp«r, for that. A consensus of var ious authoritative estimates places the deficit for t»-« fiscal veer feginninw July 1 at approxi rrrtelv $5,000,000,000 lowest prospective deficit estimate is that issued by the budget bureau-$3,920,000,000. Highest is the estimate or *nator V andenb»rg-$8,000,000,000 ,The problems faced by the Treasury were vividly indicated a short time back by Secre f y Morgenthau—who is now regarded as one of the most conservative of the Cabinet officials, and one who was recently congratu lated even by so strong an opponent of spend ing as Senator Byrd for the excellent job he ban ben doing. /The Secre’ary said': epp,. | Tieasury is on a 24.—hour basis, and we try to meet these very difficult situations ,s they arise All I can sav is, as of todav I think we have met them. What we can do in. the future 1 do not knew.” This, .said Pa.ul Mallon,* ‘ap ptnred to be a forthright and sensible state ment of the real outlook.” The iutlook, in other words, is in the laps of the gods. Expectation is that the White House pump-primir.i? b.ll will finally go through in just About its original form. The President's control over Congress, though far from abso lute, has been strength! bed by the wins of Administration back candidates in the Oregon and Florida primaries (though the New Deal got a setback in Pennsylvania) and by the publication of a survey ma.de by Fortune which indii'atos the odd fact that, ir.' spi*e of th^ new’ r'tiression, the President’s personal popularity is almost as high as It ever was. For the last week for w-hich this column has statistics, the business index showed very slight rise—so slight that you had to louk very carefully on the graphs to see it. Immobility has characterized business men for some time, with all gains And losses, when seasonal ad justment is made, insignificant. Business Week thinks that “the main factor working toward revival is the continuin’* of consumption At a higher rate than production.” In the steel industry, for example, operations are at 30 per cent of capacity, while consump tion is between 40 and 46 per'cent of capacity. This means thv.t existing inventories of the metal are being rather rap’dly used un. and that stronger buving must develope if business is to operate nt all. mu*h less improve. The Automobile industry is very much in the doldrums, and recently touched a new post-October low. Manufacturers are reported to have largely discarded plans for extensive changes arid improvements il 1939 cars. The new’ cars when they come out in the fall will bo about the same as this year’s, which of it self will slow sales. The home-building program hns’nt gotten underwpy yet. Some think' little will come of it and otherss are extremely optimistic and feel that greatly stimulated residential construction will lead industry into better tmies. FHA has a grivter t f mber of f ppicat*ong 'n hand, but. it is believed that several months must en ;;uti before l .uch actual work will get under way. One interesting fact, ildicatb'e of the state of sentiment, is tto.t the wird “depression is being more and more. This true of newspapers, magazines, and individuals. Mven the most sanguine no lorrjer regard the slump as c, minor matter, which will be shurtly taken ctve of by the ineluctable pull of a long time recovery movement. The feelilg grows that we are in a potentially serious a position as in 1930. A glance over a number of forecasts by fire’,’icier* and economists produces the pre diction that summer will be poor, that some improvement should start about l^bor Day and mount during the fall, especially in consumers’ goods industries. -o Shackled By Fear Testimony given by Philip H. GLajdsden of the Gommity of Utility Executives, before the Uenate Subcommittee on L'aficiencies Appro priations, deserves A ,tion-widt_« attrition. Mr. Gadsden appeared principally to oppose public works spending for projects which com pete with private business, and pi»,id specific aueitun to duplication of electric facilities. He pointed iut that many high public, such as J. L). Ross, the Administrator of jRtmneville dam, h’.ve often deplored such duplication as beirt? wasteful and ulnecessary. Yet a clause contained in the current government spend ilg bill, as orginally introduced, would author ize the Administrator of the law to pour hund reds of millions of dollars into public duplica tion of existing facilities for the generatiin transmissiol and distribution of electric power, and actually give muncipalitics 45 per cent of the money a.s an outright “gift” to encourage them to go into debt for the balance needed. What, this wiuld mean to the country is plain. It would make it impossible for the utility in dustry to go ahead and get private money for new facilities—as it will, if it is freed of the threat of such unfair government competition. It would e. courage cities already heavily debt-ridden, to go further into debt because of the lure of federal giants and lo' ,ns for the purpose of building unnecessary power sys tems. It would cause a further retrenchment in utility operations, at the expense of workers and investors. And it would take us further Belong the road to socialism. In the ten jears from 1923 to 1934, the uti lity industry epent an annual average of $711, 000,000 for ney construction, and secured an average of $638,000,000 in new capital. In the five years from 1932 to 1937—-during which the government has steadily broadened its subsidized, tax-free activities in the power field —the private utilities have spent an nual average of less than $250,000,000 for new construction, and have received an average of but) $35,000,000 in ney capital. That, as many an economist h?.s pointed ou,t, has been largely for the severity and duration of Repression. No better commentary on the existing situ ation could be made than is found in Mr. Gads den’s conclusion: "The private power industry can P. il ought to be a nr'ghty machine for creating jobs and spreading so -ial benefits to the people. Today it is shackled by fear. Inves tors shun it. Break those shackles, restore con fident th’.t, the Federal government has set boundaries on its policy of duplication, and its great need for expansion can be turmd to the account of all society.” --o Ten Thousand More Important Worries The lob, Karr,as, ^Register is one of the thousand of country newspapers that realize bhe dangers of radical, politically inspired pro posals to destroy the chain store industry. In p recent editorial, it said: “Statistics prove that chain stores reached the peak of their expansion period in America several '^-ears ago and tetve actually been declining some since. The present ratio of chain stores in independ ent "tores will probably be maintained with little variation for the indefinite future. There are at e t 10,000 things the United States m’sr/t ' -t'er be worrying about than he day when its retail business will be monopolized by chairs stoios.” One of those 10,000 things is the high cost of living which has declined very little in the last eight or ten minth, in spite of a her'cvy dec ire in purchasing power. Destroy the chain and the cost of living must inevitably be forced up farther. Another of the 10,000 things is productive employment—which will suffer a heavy blow if the chain stores, with their wniies of workers, are driven cut of business. Under the present system, America has been given the be"* retail merchandising service in the world. The in*dependent stores, far from going under, have met chain comretition on its own grounds, and forged ahead. Wh'?.t sound reason ,nd grant ad ministration of said estate to John Adams Jr., or some other suitable I person and proceed to a settle ment thereof Jtryce Crawford, County Judge. Begin 6—18 38 End 7—2—38 Charles F. Davis. A tty. 2504 No, 24th St, Toachman Bldg NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION In the matter of the estate of Willie G. Norman, Deceased. All persons interested in said estate are hereby notified that a petition has been fide in said Court alleging that said deceased died leaving no last will and praying for administration upon his estate, and that a hearing will be had on said petition before said court on the llth day of June 1938, and that if you fail to appear at said Court on the said llth day of June 1938, at 9 o’clock A. M. to contest said petition, the Court may grant the same and grant administra tion of said estate to Lola Normn or some other suitable person per son and proceed to a settlement thereof. Bryce Crawford County Judge Begun 5-21-38 Ending 6-12-38 ■-o_ Atty. Ray Lawrence W iliams Room 2 Tuehnvan Bldg., 24‘h et Lake St. ) PROBATE NOTICE In the matter of the estate of E.o er M M. Wright, decease 1. Notice is hereby given: That the creditors of said deceased wdl meet the administrator of said es tate, before me,, County Judge of Douglas County, Nebraska, at the County Court Room, in said Coun ty, on ihe 2nd day.of August 1938 and r.n the 3rd day of October 1938 at 9 o’clock A. M., each day, for the purpose of pre~en,t:ng their claims for examinaf'on, adjust ment and allowance. Three months are allowed for the creditors to present ‘heir claims, from the 2nd dav of July 1938. Bryce Crawford, Courtv Judge Bg. 6-11—38 end 6-25—38 Patronize Our Advertisers